niedbinahaus



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.-

W. P. NIEDRINGHAUS 8v 0. A. WETTENGEL. PLATE METAL FOLDING MAGHINE.

No. 503,292. Patented Aug. 15, 1893.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

W. P. NIEDRINGHAUS & O. A. WETTENGEL.

' PLATE METAL FOLDING MACHINE.

No. 503,292. Patented Aug 15, 1893.

(No ModeL) 4 Sheets-Sheet a.

W. P. NIEDRINGHL'US & 0. A. WETTENGEL. PLATE METAL FOLDING MACHINE.

Nu. 503,292. Patented Aug. 15; 1893 mum. {sheets-sme t 4. W. F. NIEDRINGHAUS 81; G. A. WETTENGEL.

PLATE METAL FOLDING MACHINE.

No. 503,292. Patented Aug. 15,1893,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM F. NIEDRINGI-IAUS AND CHARLES ALBERT WETTENGEL, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNORS TO THE ST. LOUIS STAMPING COMPANY,

on SAME PLACE.

PLATE-METAL-FOLDING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 503,292, dated August 15, 1893.

Application filed July 21,1892- Serial No. 440,736- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM F. Nrnn- RINGHAUS and CHARLES ALBERT WETTEN- GEL, both of St. Louis, Missouri, have jointly made a new and useful Improvement in Plate- Metal-Folding Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

By means of the improved mechanism under consideration, metal plate, especially such as is employedin the manufacture of tin plate, can be readily prepared.

Considered generally, the machine in question comprises a slotted table upon which the plate to be folded is placed, a former having a reciprocating motion, and which in its movement encounters the plate,initiatin g the bending thereof and forcing it between a pair of jaws which receive and close against the partially-shaped plate and thereby complete the desired folding thereof, mechanism for operating the jaws, closing them as described to fold the interposed plate, and opening them to release and drop the folded plate, and to adjust the jaws for the reception of another plate, and mechanism for operating the former, elevating and depressing it at proper times, t0- gether with a suitable frame work for sustaining the described parts, all substantially as is hereinafter set forth and claimed, aided by the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 2, a front elevation partly in section; Fig. 3, a plan of the top portion of the machine; Fig. 4., a horizontal section on the line 4- 1: of Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a horizontal section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1; and Figs. 6 to 8 views in vertical section illustrating the different relative positions of the former and the folding mechanism during the doubling and folding of the plate.

The same letters of reference denote the same parts.

The frame work of the machine consists mainly, and preferably, of the base, A, two pairs of uprights, A, A, and A A which are supported upon the base, and at or toward the sides respectively thereof, and a rectangular frame A which is supported upon the uprights, and which in turn supports guides, A A and A A at the sides respectively 0f the frame, substantially as shown.

B represents the table upon which the plate, 0, to be doubled is placed. Its proper location upon the table is defined by means of suitable gages b, b. The table has an opening, b, in it of suitable width and length to permit of the plate being depressed through it; in width the opening should be suiiicient to admit the widest plate, and in length it should be enough shorter than that of the plate to properly support the plate until the folding operation is initiated by forcing the plate through the opening.

D represents what may be termed a former. In its general outline it resembles a thin wedge. Its function is to depress the plate through the described opening in the table, initiate the doubling of the plate, and deliver it to that portion of the mechanism which serves to complete the doubling. This last mentioned mechanism is preferably in the form of two folders or jaws, E, E, which are adjusted and adapted to open more or less apart from each other to admit the plate, and, after receiving the plate, to be closed more or less toward each other and thereby complete the doubling of the plate. They also preferably are utilized as supports for the plate as it is being by the former depressed into its position for folding. To these ends, as the most desirable shape and arrangement, the jaws are pivoted at e, 6, respectively, and have rounded faces, e 6 respectively, and are so held with relation to the former as to jointly provide a tapered recess whose opposite ends are the faces e e", and they are adapted to be moved toward and from each other as is indicated substantially by their various positions shown in the drawings.

The preferred mode of actuating the jaws is that exhibited: By means of the links, F, F, they are respectively connected with the rods G, G. That is, there is a pair of rods G, G, at one end of the machine, and another pair, G, G, at the opposite end thereof. The four rods extend upward and connect with the yokes H, H, at the upper part of the machine, and respectively at or toward the sides thereof. That is, two rods, G, G", at one side of the machine connect with one of said yokes, and the rods, G, G, at the opposite side of the machine connect with the other of said yokes, and substantially as shown. The yokes, and preferably by means of the rollers h, h, respectively, ride upon the cams, I, I, re-

spectively. Said cams are fastened respect ively to the shafts J, J. The shafts are held and journaled respectively in the bearings j,j, and are provided respectively with the gears, K, K. These gears are in the form of worm gears and are respectively in engagement with the worm shafts L, L respectively. Said last named shafts are journaled in suitable bearings, Z, and they are also respectively provided with the gear wheels Z, Z These last mentioned gears are in engagement with a central gear wheel, M, which is fastened to the driving shaft m, and to which rotary motion can be imparted by means of the pulley m, which is fastened to said driving shaft. Instead of wormgearing spur gears are equally efiective.

The operation of the machine is substantially as follows: A plate, 0, having been placedin position on the table, and motion the broken lines, same figure; the former has now reached the lower limit of its stroke, and begins to ascend, and after it has risen sufiiciently to be out of the way the jaws begin, to close; that is,,the cams I, I, begin to uplift the yokes, and in consequence the rods, G, G, move to raise the links F, F, into a horizontal position, and, the jaws move toward each other: the action of the rods and links is analogous to that of a toggle; the jaws act upon the partially-doubled plate, which has been left between them, and the folds of the plate approach each other; this operation continues until the plate has been sufficiently doubled and the folds thereby at the upper edges thereof brought sufficiently, close to each other (this position is shown in Fig. 8) to permit of the doubled plate to fall through the opening,N, between the jawswhen they are again opened apart from each other into their original position: that is, the jaws close and double the plate as described and then open, and the folded plate now drops through the opening N, and is thereby discharged from the machine: in practice the plate may used. for completing thedoubling.

ipered. one. sidered desirable. wide, and they are stationary; the former. I continues to descend and the plate is thereby f' borne downward into the position shown inv i fall onto a carrier, 0, and thereby be delivered to any desirable point: meanwhile as the I jaws have thus closed and opened the former has been raised to its up-position as shown in Fig. 1; the cams now cease to act upon the yokes, the rollers, h, h, now riding upon the round part, i, of the cams, and the jaws in consequence being stationary: the former 1s now in positio'ii to repeat'its action, and the operation of folding a second plate is proceeded with and so on as each plate is folded.

We desire not to be restricted to the particular contour of jaw-face shown, as this particular feature of the construction can be modified somewhat and good results obtained. t It is also possible to provide a bearing for the plate as it is compressed by thewformer which isdistinct from the mechanism-*the jaws- WVe pre: fer however to. have the jaws to form the double work of supporting theplate while it is being depressed by the former, and of completing' the doubling of the plate after it has been depressed. And we also consider the special curvature of jaw-face. shown thebest one for the purpose under consideration as 5 thereby the strain upon theplate, bothwhen :it is being forced downward by the former and afterward when it is being compressed by the jaws, is favorably distributed upon the plate. The relative positionv of the jaws is also such as to provide the most desirable form of tapered recessfor the plate to be de- 1 pressed into. plate by the former is concerned it is not en- So far as the. depression of the tirely essential that the recess shall be a ta- A tapered recess however-is. con.-

We claim.-- 1. A plate metal folding lnachinehaving a table, a former, and, a taperedv bearing beneath said table, said table having an opening for the plate to be folded therethrough,

,said former being. wedge-shaped, and having a reciprocatlng movement into and out of said j opening, and sald tapered bearing consisting of jaws adjusted to be moved apart from Qor to be closed HPOILGROllOthGLfiJld when brought sufficiently closeto each other providing an opening for the plate when folded to be discharged. therethrough,substantially as described."

2. In a. plate metalfolding; machine, a pair of jaws said j aws-being relatively shaped and arranged to form a. tapered recesstoreceive a partially folded plate, and being adjustable toward and from. eachzother, by means of. the connecting rods, cams, yoke and rollers, as de-. scribed for the purpose of compressing said plate and discharging it thereafter, substan tially as described. t

3. The combination of the former, the table beneath it having an opening, the jaws E, E, having respectively bearing faces e e the rods G, G, connectedwithsaid jaws by links, the yoke at theupper part of the machine connecting with said rods, and the rollnected to the former, the several parts operers, cams, shafts and gears, all operated as ating in the manner and for the purposes set and for the purposes set forth. forth.

4. The combination of the former, the ta- WVitness our hands this 29th day of June, 15 ble having an opening, the adustable jaii'S 1892. beneath the opening, the rods G and t e T T links connecting the rods and jaws, the yokes connecting with the rods, and the cams, at the i upper part of the machine, the shafts J, J, Witnesses:

J OSEPH BROWN, E. HAUSMAN.

operating said cams, and the gears, the wrist pin, the rods d, and the cross head (Z, con- 

